1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a device for aligning a nozzle of an injection unit of a vertical injection molding apparatus with a sprue of a mold.
2. The Prior Art
In injection molding, high temperature melted plastic is injected via a nozzle into a mold under great pressure. The temperature and pressure of the melted plastic often damages the mold. Furthermore, the mold undergoes wear and abrasion. Thus, the mold of an injection molding apparatus requires frequent maintenance and replacement in order to maintain precise molding dimensions. Maintenance of the mold requires the mold to be removed from the apparatus and then remounted in the apparatus for further operation. When remounting the mold to the apparatus, an adjustment of the relative position between the mold and the injection nozzle must be performed in order to exactly align the nozzle with a sprue of the mold. Conventionally, this is done by manually moving the mold with respect to the nozzle and then visually checking for perfect alignment therebetween. The process must be repeated several times until perfect alignment is obtained, which is time-consuming and laborious.
It is thus desirable to provide an aligning device for aligning an injection nozzle with a mold sprue and a method of using the aligning device to readily align the nozzle with the sprue.